According to recent reporting from Local 12, factors like fuel prices are raising the costs and lowering availability of a variety of grocery items, including meats, seafood and produce.
The University of Cincinnati's Alpaugh Family Economics Center has been tracking grocery prices in the tri-state area with Local 12 since August 2025.
Gary Painter, economics expert and academic director of real estate at Lindner College of Business, offered insight on why certain products are harder to find recently.
"Typically, in the winter months, we are going to import things like bell peppers from warm-weather places," Painter told Local 12. "We're in kind of the in-between, where those growing seasons are done."
He said that as stores swap from imported goods to locally grown produce, it can make keeping stock difficult, especially with increased fuel costs.
Featured image at top of beef at a grocery store. Photo/iStock
